Venice 2026 has named the 20 films chasing the Golden Lion, and Werner Herzog is back in the race
The 83rd Venice Film Festival unveiled its official selection: 20 films competing for the Golden Lion from 2 to 12 September, with Herzog, Kore-eda, McDonagh and Moretti in the running.
Twenty films are going for the Golden Lion this year. The 83rd Venice Film Festival has revealed its official selection, and as usual the list tells you as much about the state of auteur cinema as any year-end round-up.
The festival runs 2 to 12 September on the Lido and opens with “Ink”, Danny Boyle’s film about the rise of Rupert Murdoch — which doesn’t just open the festival, it competes too. The film already made headlines before anyone had seen it, when Netflix bought the rights ahead of Venice.
Which directors are in competition at Venice 2026?
The main lineup gathers names Venice tends to treat as family: Werner Herzog with “Bucking Fastard”, Hirokazu Kore-eda with “Look Back”, Martin McDonagh, Lee Chang-dong, Nanni Moretti, Florian Zeller with “Bunker”, Casey Affleck and Stéphane Brizé. It’s a selection that leans on established filmmakers rather than discoveries — which usually produces very even competitions and very indecisive juries.
Also among the contenders is a Brazil-Italy co-production, “Ritorno a Buenos Aires” by Marco Bechis, keeping South America in the hunt for the top prize.
Why does Venice matter so much to the Oscars?
Because it’s the first big festival of awards season. What premieres on the Lido in early September reaches Telluride and Toronto days later and, if it holds up, is still standing in January when voting opens. In recent years a disproportionate share of Best Picture frontrunners came down this particular red carpet first — which makes September, not December, the real starting gun. The full programme goes up on the Biennale’s official site.
By Lucy Bennett
Image: nicolas genin from Paris, France / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
